This invention is concerned with the feeding of particulate materials, especially powder materials. While not limited, the equipment of the present invention is particularly adapted to the feed of abrasive particulate materials in a pressurized gas stream.
Because of the special adaptability of the apparatus to this type of use, the invention is illustrated in the drawings and described hereinafter in connection with an adaptation particularly suited to use for abrasive purposes.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system for feeding particulate abrasive material into a pressurized gas stream and to maintain uniformity of feed of the particulate material into the pressurized gas stream, and thereby provide an abrasive-laden stream which is readily useable to perform a uniform abrasive operation, this being of a special importance in situations where moderate or delicate abrasion of sensitive products or articles is desired.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system of the kind referred to in which the quantity of abrasive particles fed into the pressurized gas stream may readily and accurately be controlled in order to meet the abrasion conditions desired.
Still further, it is an object of the invention to provide a system which is capable of handling abrasive particles of varying degrees of fineness.
The invention is also concerned with equipment for the above purposes incorporating not only the particle feed mechanism itself, but also a special arrangement of a reserve supply container associated with the particle feed device. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with the use of a particle feed device of the type disclosed in my application Ser. No. 727,199 above-identified, the present invention being especially concerned with the employment, in combination with such a feed device, of a reserve particle supply container adapted to deliver the reserve supply of particulate material to the feed mechanism in a novel manner, as disclosed in my prior application Ser. No. 546,913 above-identified.
In accordance with one important aspect of the invention, the reserve supply container is of large capacity but is arranged in association with the particle feed mechanism in such manner as to provide for uniform introduction of a stream of the reserve material into the feed mechanism without causing packing or backing up of the particulate material, notwithstanding the large reserve supply available in the reserve supply container.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, provision is made for pressurizing both the feed chamber and the reserve supply container, the pressurization being effected to establish the same pressure in both the reserve supply container and the feed chamber.
In accordance with still another aspect of the invention, provision is made for the employment of a particle feed mechanism of very small size when considered in relation to the volume of reserve particulate material available for feed from the reserve supply container. This is achieved by a special arrangement of feed mechanism for controlling the delivery of the particulate material from the reserve supply container into the feed chamber.